Reacting to the latest inflation figures, Home-Start UK urges the Chancellor to do more to support families in the autumn statement.  

Ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn statement, the ONS (Office for National Statistics) announced that the official inflation rate has risen to 11.1%, the highest in 41 years.

Responding, Peter Grigg, chief executive of Home-Start UK said,

“For families with young children continuing inflation and cost rises are a disaster. We urge the chancellor to do everything possible to protect and support families in the autumn statement including uprating benefits, and identifying ways to specifically support families with young children. The impact on families will be long-lasting, and research shows that experiencing a period of poverty, even once during childhood has consequences for almost every area of a child’s life.

“High inflation is especially challenging for parents with new babies who face new costs as they pay for nappies, clothes, and furniture. They are also likely to need the heating on for longer to make sure their home is warm enough for their baby so face higher than average energy costs. At the same time, those on parental leave may well have seen their income fall, or they may have had to cut hours, or face very high childcare costs. A record level of inflation is a disaster for these families.

“Rising prices affect everyone, but the chancellor and the government need to protect those who can least adapt to the current cost-of-living crisis. We need to see additional support given to parents immediately.”

3.9 million children across the UK already live in poverty. Increased food, housing, energy, and childcare costs will push many more families to the edge. Non-negotiables like infant formula are costing 10% more and despite government help, fuel bills have still more than doubled in a year. 

In November, Home-Start UK launched its Cost-of-Living Crisis Appeal to ensure families received the practical, compassionate and emotional support they need this winter to give their children the best start in life.

Notes:

Research shows that experiencing a period of poverty, even once during childhood has consequences for almost every area of a child’s life:

• Cognitive Development - Children who have lived in persistent poverty during their first seven years have cognitive development scores on average 20 per cent below those of children who have never experienced poverty. Child Poverty Action Group (2022) ‘Effects of Poverty’ https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/effects-poverty [Last accessed 26 September 2022]
  
  
• Physical Health- Studies have found that children growing up in poverty are more likely to experience physical health conditions like asthma, malnutrition and have more emergency attendances at hospitals. Roos, Wall-Wieler, and Boram Lee (2019) ‘Poverty and Early Childhood Outcomes’ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31110161/ [Last accessed 26 September 2022]
  
  
• Psychological Wellbeing - The Millennium Cohort Study, which tracks a cohort of children born in the year 2000, over their lives, has found that experiencing even just one episode of poverty in childhood is linked to lower life satisfaction at age 14, with the worst well-being experienced by children whose families have had intermittent experiences of poverty across their childhood. Rates of low wellbeing for these children were seven percentage points higher than those who had never experienced poverty.  Good Childhood Report 2019. Available on request from The Children’s Society

 

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